The disclosures herein relate generally to computer systems and more particularly to a chassis door for covering chassis bays used for external devices.
Doors covering media devices on a computer chassis have presented problems regarding user access. Typically, such doors rotate open about 90xc2x0 from a closed position. These doors cover media bays for housing external devices such as FDD""s, CD""s, DVD""s, etc.
The need to access these media bays by opening such doors limits where and how a computer chassis can be positioned relative to the user. For example, a door that opens to the left is better suited to be placed to the left of the user, and, a door that opens to the right is better suited to be placed to the right of the user.
Such doors are also susceptible to being broken when being struck while in the open position. During manufacturing, these doors are opened and closed several times to insert and remove test media which creates extra steps and inhibits access. A door that opens more than 90xc2x0 requires a larger area along a side of the chassis to allow for the motion of the door.
Doors have been provided which rotate from 90xc2x0 to as much as 270xc2x0 to an open position either on two separate hinges, or by sliding in a motion which moves to a position covering a portion of the front bezel of the chassis.
Therefore, what is needed is a door which is movable out of the way of the media bays and allows the chassis to be placed on either side of the user while maintaining easy access.
One embodiment, accordingly, provides a door which can be easily accessed from either of the right or left sides, and can be opened in about one-half the space of a simple hinge door. To this end, a computer chassis includes an access door mounted on a first surface of the chassis. The door is movable between a closed position and an open position. A first hinge portion connects the door to the chassis and permits the door to move in a first motion to a first open position. A second hinge portion connects the door to the chassis and permits the door to move in a second motion along side a second surface of the chassis adjacent the first surface.
A principal advantage of this embodiment is that a media access door is movable to a position which provides easy access regardless of the orientation of the user to the chassis. The door is movable to the side of the chassis and can be opened in about one-half of the space of previously used media doors.